Cover Me
by PlatinumAndPercocet
Summary: 'Over me,You fade into the night, over me you melt into the light, over me you will fear the things I need...' Solace can be impossible to find amid the horrors that we see everyday, and sometimes you need to make your own safe place, regardless of the rules.
1. Cause I've Been Branded

**What I Own: Four bottles of Lush Rose Jam shower gel, eleventy-seven bottles of lotion and two pounds of amazing coffee.**

**What I don't: Chicago PD. Yeah, nope, not mine. I just like to make pretty messes with them. I promise I will clean them up when I am done. Maybe. It can get pretty fun in that sandbox.**

**Author's Note: Hi, My name is Helen and I can't seem to get a muse to stick around. Also, I'm not dead. I know, the last thing I needed was ANOTHER work in progress but the fic muse… she is an elegant, cold hearted whore. And she isn't cheap. I know I have all kinds of things that need updating, and they will be, I have bits and pieces and scenes ALL OVER THE PLACE BUT… this happened. I blame music. And sick. And Linstead on my TL. I'm not sorry. Y'all know how I work… this is just a little tease but I already have more mapped out and I am aiming for weekly updates in all kinds of places… so, don't hate me, please? This is rated M for a reason kids, so if you can't smoke, buy porn or enlist in the armed services in the U.S, you can just hightail it right on out. The song for this one is 'Cover Me' by Candlebox. Crank it up and have a read. Reviews are appreciated like crazy, they help pay that cold-hearted whore I was talking about earlier. As usual, this wasn't beta'd because I suck. All mistakes are mine, mine, mine. Anyway, enough babble, I hope y'all enjoy my foray into a new fandom. I KNOW it is short and will probably bring up more questions than answers but…. They will come. I promise.**

It was cold. Not just temperature wise, although that was into the negative digits, easily. It was the kind of cold that seeped into your bones and became a part of you; weaseled its way in through whatever cracks that it could see. It settled into your soul, freezing it, just a little bit, and twisting it, distorting it just enough. Not enough for it to be noticeable to everyone, but enough for you to know that something was wrong, different… cold. Some people dealt with it better than others, it was dependent on who you were, but no matter how hard someone tried, they couldn't ever fully hide it. Every breath was burned and crackled as though it was a shock to your system even though you needed it to survive.

It was a physical presence, this cold, the chill. It took up space in rooms, and demanded respect. It was a powerful companion, though fickle, and it could change on you in an instant.

As long as I could remember, I loved snowstorms. Everything was so quiet and still and beautiful, cloaked in white, even in a city like this. It was all pure again, and for a moment, when I looked up and smiled through the flakes catching on my lashes, there was nothing wrong, everything was quiet and still, just for a blink.

But then everything came crashing back down.

The snow wasn't so pristine when it was scattered with droplets of red, splashed out across the surface like a macabre Jackson Pollock rendered in blood.

The snow was falling in earnest, piling up almost in an attempt to cover the gruesome tableau, but it was all for naught. This couldn't be unseen, no matter how much snow fell, how hard the pavement was scrubbed… an image like this was burned into your memory, haunting you every time you closed your eyes, it would be there. I had my own ways of trying to wipe the image from my mind. Pale skin, golden girls, blue lips, blue nightgown, a white teddy bear with a long white braid all spattered with red… but not her face; that was clean and pure despite the mess that surrounded her.

The blue lights flashed off of the snow as I crouched down, my gloved hands itching to cover her. It wasn't right that she lay on display like this. She deserved more, she deserved a life… something more than this. And she would get it.


	2. Shelter From The Storm

**What I Own: somewhere in the vicinity of 100 twitter accounts, a second-hand Keurig and at least six dead cell phones.**

**What I Don't: Chicago PD. Nope, not mine. If they were, the wait would NOT have been nearly as long, as you can probably tell. I just like to play with them, I promise I will clean them up afterward.**

**Author's Note: Yup. Two in one day. I blame the stomach bug, this is NOT a usual occurrence. So, here is the deal. This is a drabble fic, at the moment anyway, although someday that may change. It is just how I work, I don't know why. Things will start to make more sense soon, I promise. This is a new fandom for me so I am all kinds of worried, I hope y'all like my bizarre babbles, but I know they aren't for everybody. This is rated M for adult situations, violence and fucking language. If this isn't your cup of tea, or if you are not of age, you need to find another story to read cause mine is not for you. Questions, comments, constructive criticism, a decent meringue cookie recipe to share? My messages are always open and I LOVE to talk fandom thangs, it is just how I do. Once twitter gets it's shit together, I will be over there again too. Reviews are rewarded with sneak peeks and lots of babble love because it is what I do. Thanks for reading y'all, it makes me all kinds of flaily that people take their precious time to read my silly words. I hope you enjoy.**

The storm raged on outside, the world outside the windows white and hidden behind a swirling mass of snow. The wind was fierce, rattling windows and breaking branches… it was destruction out there, of the most beautiful kind. Inside though, nothing else mattered.

Hot water pounded against tile and steam filled the air and I nearly choked as I gasped for air. Then again, that could have been just as easily due to the fact that I was panting, the last echoes of my screams fading over the dull roar of the shower. My eyes were still closed but I could feel his soft chuckle, his lips curling into a smile against the crook of my neck. My body had gone limp in his arms, back pressed solidly against the tile and my legs falling from where they had been locked tightly around his hips.

"That good huh? And here I thought I was losing my touch."

My laugh was low and throaty as I tried to support myself on still shaking legs and raised a hand to brush away the wet hair that was plastered in front of my eyes.

"You know very well that would never happen, ever. Although that's a great tactic."

Blinking my eyes open, it took a moment for things to come into focus, white spots still swimming in my field of vision. My head still spun and I MAYBE held on to him for a little longer than absolutely necessary, my fingertips resting lightly against warm, slick skin. The water that was pounding against the wall was starting to go cold and I frowned as I even thought of leaving the small oasis, such as it was.

Tonight it was the shower, last time it was my kitchen counter next time… who knows? The rules were always the same though, it had to be, and that was how this worked.

The first time had caught us both off guard, although to say it had been an accident or a surprise would have been a lie. We had always found solace in each other, a bit of quiet in the deafening noise of the city; A safe haven from the horrors that we saw on a daily basis. We covered each other that was what partners did. The case had been particularly brutal; the little girl had been found, naked and battered almost beyond recognition under a pile of trash by some garbage workers. Turns out, her father was pimping her out, his four year old daughter, to his friends but not before taking a turn himself. Stupid motherfucker taped it too, of course. If that wasn't bad enough, I had watched from behind one-way glass as the woman, already grieving, had broken down at the images she had been forced to see, and immediately giving a positive identification before breaking down. I'd landed a punch to his smug jaw, just the one, before I had been pulled away and I wished to a god I hadn't believed in for years that he would get his payback, although there had been nothing that would have made up for it, there was nothing that was ever going to make that even. Those scales were so out of balance that it would take lifetimes to even begin to achieve some standard of even. I had walked out, sans badge and gun and gone home, breaking every traffic law on the way.

A bottle of wine and several broken glasses hadn't helped, although the crash had been a joy to hear. The knock at the door was not unexpected, but the person who stood there… not a surprise, but not my first guess either.

I don't know if it was the wine, the case or just… us but as soon as the door was closed, nothing else mattered. It was against the rules, we both new that, but sometimes rules needed to be broken. We had talked about it afterwards, quiet words whispered amongst tangled sheets. It could have been complicated, very easily, but it wasn't. Solace. Sex. A shelter from the storm. Something simple after so much mess. That's all. And it worked.

Slowly shaking away the memory, I smiled and slipped out of the shower, tugging a towel tightly around me as rapidly cooling water dripped from my hair and splashed onto the plush rug under my feet. Rubbing my hand over the fogged mirror and cleared the condensation enough to catch a glimpse of my reflection: Flushed cheeks, dilated pupils wet hair a mess. When a smug smile and twinkling blue eyes popped up over my shoulder, I didn't bother to hide my laugh.

"Pretty proud of yourself?" My voice was laden with sarcasm but I couldn't hide my smile as I pulled a comb through my tangled hair.

"Maybe a little." The widening grin gave him away and I shook my head, pushing his shoulder on the way out of the steam filled room.

"A little my ass. Come on, a girl's gotta eat." I didn't turn as I headed to the kitchen, grabbing a hastily discarded shirt from the arm of the couch as I passed and pulling it on before discarding my towel.

It wasn't better, or easy, not by a long shot but some of those images… they were gone, for just a few moments anyway and things were normal again, at least for now.


End file.
